Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004

Mesoscale Discussion 830

May 22, 200419 counties in New York; 21 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 22, 2004, 8:18 PM EDT for 19 counties in New York; 21 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 117 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 2004, 8:18 PM EDT (00:18 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 2004, 10:15 PM EDT
In force
117 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 40 counties

Allegany County, NY, Broome County, NY, Cattaraugus County, NY, Cayuga County, NY, Chautauqua County, NY, Chemung County, NY, Chenango County, NY, Cortland County, NY, Livingston County, NY, Madison County, NY, Onondaga County, NY, Ontario County, NY, Schuyler County, NY, Seneca County, NY, Steuben County, NY, Tioga County, NY, Tompkins County, NY, Wyoming County, NY, Yates County, NY, Armstrong County, PA, Beaver County, PA, Bradford County, PA, Butler County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Crawford County, PA, Elk County, PA, Erie County, PA, Forest County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Lawrence County, PA, McKean County, PA, Mercer County, PA, Potter County, PA, Susquehanna County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Venango County, PA, Warren County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:18 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 101 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 2004-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1116 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 2004-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 216 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1116 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
993 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

200 
ACUS11 KWNS 230018
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 230018 
NYZ000-PAZ000-230215-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0830
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0718 PM CDT SAT MAY 22 2004

AREAS AFFECTED...WRN NY/PA

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 252...

VALID 230018Z - 230215Z

SEVERE TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACROSS THE NRN
HALF OF TORNADO WATCH 252 OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS LINEAR MCS
DEVELOPS EAST FROM SWRN ONTARIO. STORM COVERAGE ACROSS PA IS MORE
UNCERTAIN AND PARTS OF THE WATCH ACROSS THIS AREA MAY BE CLEARED
OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

LATEST RADAR AND SATELLITE IMAGERY WERE SHOWING STRONG CONVECTIVE
COMPLEX AND LOW AMPLITUDE MID LEVEL IMPULSE NORTH OF LAKE ERIE AND
WEST OF LAKE ONTARIO. THIS SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EAST AT
40-45KT INTO PARTS OF WRN NY OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. LOW LEVEL
INFLOW/ASCENT AND DESTABILIZATION ALONG WELL-DEFINED WARM FRONT
RUNNING GENERALLY ALONG THE NY THRUWAY/I90 WILL LIKELY AT LEAST
MAINTAIN INTENSITY OF THE COMPLEX AS IT DEVELOPS EWD. BUF RAOB
INDICATES STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR SUPPORTIVE OF STORM
ROTATION/ORGANIZATION. THUS TORNADO AND DAMAGING WIND HAZARD
PERSISTS ACROSS THE NY PORTIONS OF THE WATCH THROUGH THE REST OF THE
EVENING.

..CARBIN.. 05/23/2004

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...BGM...BUF...CTP...PBZ...CLE...

42258049 43447547 41727550 40538043

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 10:50 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBroome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison and 9 more4 hr
May 23, 12:04 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison and 9 more56 min
May 23, 3:27 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston and 4 more2 hr
May 23, 4:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBronx, Broome, Chemung, Delaware, Dutchess, Kings and 14 more5 hr
May 23, 6:45 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Bronx, Broome, Chemung, Delaware, Dutchess and 16 more90 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Pennsylvania, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in New York, 2004Every mesoscale discussion in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.